


Light of My Life

by Galindrael



Series: A Very Dragon Age Christmas [23]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: DECFANFIC, Day Twenty three, Established Relationship, F/M, Glowstones, I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 20:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3991069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galindrael/pseuds/Galindrael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that Scáthach's parents have arrived at Skyhold without warning and on the brink of a scheduled celebration, what will the Inquisitor and Cullen do?</p>
<p>For the #DecFanFic challenge</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light of My Life

It had been two days since Scáthach’s parents showed up unannounced at Skyhold. Cullen had never seen her act as tense or even this angry before. Granted, she kept her façade up until she was alone with either himself or the other advisors. Cullen’s poor soldiers were panicked with the idea that they were going to, essentially, host a small force of soldiers whose loyalty was not to the Inquisition but to the Trevelyan family. The soldiers and staff who had been there long enough knew that something was not right and made sure to keep to themselves as much as possible to let the Inquisitor have her space.

Cullen, for the first time since they’ve been married, knocked on their door to not startle his wife, “Come in,” her voice was tense and when he did start walking up the stairs he heard her continue, “Cullen, why did you knock,” _his footfalls. Maker, bless her, she knew his footfalls._

“I didn’t want to startle you, love,” Cullen continued his way to her, “I am sorry to add this to your pile, but tonight we were supposed to oversee the hanging of the glowstones,” Cullen paused when he noticed Scáthach hang her head slightly, “I have both the revered mother and the enchanter asking when they should expect to hear your speech tonight,” she didn’t seem to hear him, “Scáthach?” He placed his hand on her shoulder.

 

“I don’t trust them,” she sighed.

“You don’t trust the revered mother?” Cullen’s brow furrowed.

“What? No.” She turned to face Cullen from her chair, “The soldiers my parents offered. Maker, I don’t _believe_ my own blood, Cullen”. She leaned her head against his hip and he placed a hand in her hair.

“May I ask-” Scáthach chuckled.

“Of course, you’re my husband,” she sighed, “Why would, after deliberately disobeying my parents and marrying,” she paused, “Why would they offer us not only soldiers, but their _best_ soldiers? Why now? How can I tell _our_ soldiers that I don’t want them to delve too much information to my own parent’s soldiers? That I don’t want to use them for anything other than basic patrol? I-” she sighed loudly, “We need to have Leliana’s people watch them. Keep them out of the War Room. Keep them away from certain places in Skyhold”.

“We can have them audition,” Cullen offered and Scáthach looked up like he told an awful joke.

“Audition?” She smirked.

“Yes, for positions within the army. We separate them; divide and conquer or what have you. I can assign them to veteran members who will know to watch them”.

“That’s a good idea,” she stood up and Cullen took a step back to allow her to adjust her clothing.

“I think we can make the speech after dinner,” She said as she tightened her cloak around her.

“We?” Cullen shot her a look.

“You’re my husband, we can use this to gauge the response of my parents. This is usually a speech strictly reserved the Bann or Noble to give. With you giving a part of the speech we can see if our marriage is the reason they are here…or if they know we’re,” she placed a hand on her slightly swelling stomach, “Maker, what if they do know?”

Cullen placed a hand on top of hers, “Good. Our child is not going anywhere with or without their damn approval,” Scáthach snapped her head towards him, “Sorry, I’ve- I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and I,” Cullen felt his face get hot, “I have been imagining waking up to the sound of a child’s laughter. Or teaching them how to use a sword” Cullen chuckled, “Being called ‘Father’,” he looked to Scáthach and she was all but crying, “Oh, I’m sorry, I…”

“No, no,” she paused, “I’m just emotional and I think it’s wonderful that you’ve been thinking of this,” her smile faltered, “I’ve been obsessing over Corypheus, over Calpernia, and now my parents…I’ve barely spent any of my time thinking about preparing for a child,” her hands started shaking in Cullen’s, “Can I really be a mother and the Inquisitor?”

Cullen’s heart started racing, _Can I be a Father and the Commander of the Inquisition? Can I keep myself together while she fights? No, I can’t let her think anything other than positive,_ “Of course you can, love,” he pulled her into a hug but as he placed his chin on her head, his smile was pursed.

 

A brisk knock made Cullen pull away to place himself between Scáthach and the door, “It is Cassandra,”  Cullen relaxed slightly at the familiar voice, “Come in”. Cullen announced.

Cassandra got to the top of the stairs and stopped, “I am being insistently pestered by the revered mother about the speech, _please_ tell me you have a set time,” Cassandra leaned on the side rail.

“After dinner, we’ll have the speech where I was made Inquisitor. Who is lighting the first glowstone?” Scáthach picked up a stack of papers and began to filter through them.

“I believe Vivienne and Dorian have a plan, for that,” Cassandra straightened up, “I’ll go relay the information, but,” she reluctantly informed the Inquisitor, “I believe your parents wish to speak to you…should I send them up?”

“Do they know we’re expecting?”

“Leliana’s men have said that they seem to be none the wiser,” Cassandra faltered, “But I would suggest to keep covered if you wish to conceal the pregnancy much longer, there is rumor floating by some of the mothers, just gossip for now”.

“Thank you, Cassandra, send them up,” Cassandra nodded and headed down the stairs.

“I’ll leave you be,” Cullen muttered and began to follow Cassandra but Scáthach grabbed his arm.

“No, stay. I’m sure they already know that we’re married and the room is full of your things anyway,” Cullen turned and saw his armor stand, his desk, his clothes and the gifts for the child they’ve already received.

“Well, I think I should at least hide these,” Cullen gathered the toys and clothes quickly and shut them away into their closet, out of sight. And Maker, help them it was just in time.

 

Another knock at the door startled Scáthach. Cullen, again, placed himself between Scáthach and the door and waited for a voice to announce them, “Bann Trevelyan and Lady Trevelyan,” Scáthach was quickly tying a fur cloak around herself to hide her swelling stomach, “Come in”. Cullen subconsciously kept his hand on his sword.

Emmet and Satine Trevelyan looked just as annoyed as their daughter; attractive faces hiding their sour dispositions with expensive perfumes and convincing make-up. When her father noted Cullen standing between himself and his daughter he walked right by him keenly aware that all the Commander had to do was unsheathe his sword to be close enough to do damage. Her mother’s face dropped when she noticed all of Cullen’s belongings sharing the room with her daughter.

“We’ve, uhm,” her father cleared his throat, “We’ve wondered when we might have an audience with the Inquisitor but we had yet to receive an official invitation to speak,” Scáthach crossed her arms, “ Now, usually we would not do something as this but we were starting to wonder if this is some sort of punishment”.

“Punishment?” Cullen interrupted, hand gripping his sword even tighter. Cullen scoffed, “It’s not that you and your troops arrived with much warning for us to prepare. And just a few days shy of a celebration”. A sneer crawled over both Cullen’s and her father’s face.

“Well,” her mother moved to place herself in between the two seething men, “You see, we just thought that maybe you would be more prepared for our arrival since you sent the invitation out after your departure from our home”.

_What?_ Scáthach’s face contorted and she took a step to her mother, “What?”

“The invitation, for the celebration,” she drolled out, seemingly uninterested in the conversation now.

Cullen turned to see her mother pull out a piece of parchment, with the broken Inquisition seal in crimson wax before she unraveled it and showed it to Scáthach who grabbed it out of her hands and frantically read the words.

“Seal the gate,” Scáthach said and Cullen headed to the warning bell by their room and immediately heard scrambling about below them.

 

Now seeing both Scáthach and Cullen with worry upon their face, her parents edged closer, “What is going on?” her father finally asked, fighting with the warning bells to be heard.

“We never sent a letter,” Scáthach handed Cullen the parchment and it was then that her mother noticed the ring on Cullen’s finger; she snatched his scarred hand and  brought it closer to her face.

Cullen’s face automatically went scarlet. _Maker, now?_

 

“What is _this”_ her mother snarled as she shoved Cullen’s hand in her face to which Cullen pulled his hand from her immediately.

“I’ve married Cullen, this is no time to speak of such matters, we’re in danger,” Scáthach kept cool as she went about their room gathering bits and pieces of her armor that was strewn about from the night before.

“I don’t _care_ ,” he mother all but shouted and now her father joined in. But to everyone’s surprise it was not on the side of the Lady Trevelyan but on that of his daughters.

“Satine, dear,” He lightly placed a hand behind her elbow, “I think we truly are in great danger”. He pointed outside where they could clearly see the Inquisition forces preparing for an attack on Skyhold.

Scáthach turned to Cullen, “We need to calm everyone down and get a head count-names, if possible,” Cullen nodded, grabbed her hand and kissed it but before he could make it to the door, Cassandra opened the door in her full armor and interrupted.

 

“What is going on, Inquisitor,” Cassandra was out of breath from running, “Why did you sound the alarm to shut the gates?”

“My parents received an invitation from us to come to Skyhold that I never sent,” she handed it to Cassandra who scanned it as quickly as she could.

Apparently Cassandra never shut the door behind her as Leliana and Josephine were now standing at the top of their stairs.

“Inquisitor,” Josephine began but paused when she saw Scáthach’s parents, “Bann and Lady Trevelyan,” Josie curtseyed, “The guests are in a panic, what shall I tell them?”

Cullen answered, “Tell them it’s just a precautionary measure and that the celebration is still going according to plan,” Cullen was interrupted by her mother.

“I believe she asked my _daughter,_ Serah Rutherford,” the air getting more tense.

“ _Enough!_ ” Scáthach shouted, startling the group, “I am the Inquisitor. Cullen was my Commander before we were together, but now that he is my husband, you _will_ treat him with respect, especially since we are in Skyhold. _Our_ home,” Scáthach stood next to Cullen, “Now, if the Commander feels that we need the Trevelyan troops to do as they’re told to protect and patrol Skyhold, then that is what will happen. Since we don’t know the threat or who sent the letter,” she sighed, “and never mind how many are involved we will take every precautionary measure to ensure the safety of Skyhold’s inhabitants,” Scáthach turned to her parents, and softened lightly, “Now, I love you both dearly regardless of how you view Cullen, but I am _trying_ to run an army and I need everyone’s cooperation at least until we have the situation resolved”.

With an awkward pause, Scáthach turned to Josephine, “Will you please let everyone know that it’s a precautionary measure and to be in the courtyard after supper for the lighting of the glowstones?” Josie nodded.

“Cassandra,” she turned to the Inquisitor, “Please escort my parents to their chambers to relax as we get ready to _attempt_ the festivities and set a guard you trust on them”. Cassandra bowed slightly and began leading them downstairs.

“Leliana, do what you do best and find who’s keeping secrets,” she handed her the letter, “Have Solas or anyone else you need help you find out where this is from and tell me if the seal is genuine or forged”.

“Right away,” Leliana turned and shut the door behind her and Cullen immediately locked and barred them in before returning to Scáthach, who was sitting down on the couch by the fire.

 

Cullen approached her softly, “Are you alright?”  
“I-,” Scáthach leaned into him, “I’m not sure. This is all so stressful,”  she covered her mouth with her hand then rested her chin on her balled-up fist, seemingly miles away from him already.

“Scáthach,” he placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned, “What can I do to help?”   
“Just help me get through the evening without throwing up,” she lowered her head into her lap.  
“The baby giving you troubles again?” He rubbed her back.  
“Yes,” she huffed, “No? I don’t know,” she pinched her nose.  
“What should I tell the soldiers, you know that one of my veterans is on their way up here,” Cullen ran his hand lightly through her hair.  
“The decision is entirely up to you,” she looked up to him and placed her hand on his jaw, “ My _Commander_ ,” he smiled when she purred his title at him.

Cullen leaned down and kissed Scáthach just as one of the soldiers made it up the stairs and Cullen shot one arm up, a finger pointing towards the stairs to silence whoever was interrupting him, but Scáthach placed her hand on his chest and bolted to the bathroom.

It was Rylen, thank the Maker, the veteran Cullen 1st hired who had returned from Griffon Wing Keep for supplies.  


“I see what everyone means when they say that you have an effect on the Inquisitor,” he chuckled and Cullen shook his head.  
“It’s good to see you’re here,” Cullen walked closer to him and his voice turning solemn, “ We need to secure the keep. Station as many soldiers at all entry and exit points,” Cullen sighed, “ We think someone may have had the Trevelyan’s sent here for a convenient attack”.

Scáthach opened the door from their bathroom and her brows raised when she saw Rylen, “Please tell me you didn’t hear any of that,” Scáthach paused in the doorway.

“Every bit, Mrs. Rutherford,” Rylen joked, earning a groan from the Inquisitor.  

Cullen was madly scrawling onto a piece of parchment and handed to Rylen, “Here, do what you must,” Rylen took the paper, scanned it, looked to Cullen and the Inquisitor and left to fulfill his orders.

\--

Dinner went by fairly quickly, despite the intense awkwardness of the company surrounding Scáthach and Cullen. Scáthach wore a slate dress and kept furs around her to hide her stomach and Cullen, reluctantly, wore much less of his armor than usual but kept his signature fur pauldrons. Scáthach’s parents sat to her right, while Cullen and her advisors sat to her left. Josephine signaled for Cassandra to light the torches as requested and Cullen stood, straightened his posture and spoke, loudly.

“Ladies and gentleman, Lady and Bann Trevelyan, and esteemed guests of the Inquisition, please join me and my wife outside to witness the lighting of the glowstones. We’ve asked, Ser Dorian Pavus and Madame de Fer to be light them for us. Once out the main door, the guards will direct where to stand. Myself and the Inquisitor will be out shortly to give the speech,” he raised his glass, “To the Inquisition” and he drank his cup with a flourish before turning it upside down and placing it on the table. _Obviously not just for show_.

The speech was boring, required, and all too-optimistic to be logical, but the air of Skyhold was lifted. Scáthach felt foolish for preparing a speech to gauge her parent’s reaction now that it was obvious everyone was fooled. Which set everyone aware of the situation on edge; _I need to sleep._ Scáthach glanced to Cullen who placed his free hand on his sword. _Maker, so does Cullen by the look of it._ The circles around his eyes were darker than usual and he positioned himself slightly in front of her; Always protecting, his guard relentless since the incident in Orlais. Now, a great roar of applause and shouting began as Dorian and Vivienne appeared on the opposite stair case. Dorian was wielding purple fire that would alternate to the same green the rifts glowed. Vivienne’s fire was magenta and white. Honestly, for them they were not doing much besides catching the attention of the crowd

Now with attention on them, the guard in Skyhold extinguished the regular lanterns and torches then placed in unlit glowstones into the fixtures. As soon as the fixtures were in place they conjured up images of notable people in Skyhold one by one and lit them according to where this person was most likely found. The Templar tower was blue and silver. Horse Master Dennet’s was lit to a bright green and a brown. The one by Blackwall was steel and slate. Vivienne’s was purple with bits of pink on the edge. Solas was a soft white that swirled. Cassandra’s a lovely soft pink. Iron Bull was a deep red that had wisps. Sera a bright yellow. Cole a soft gray. Dorian was an orange that sparkled. Josephine a marigold. Varric was silver. Leliana a lilac. Cullen’s tower was maroon and gold, which made him smirk until Dorian also conjured a lion temporarily to earn the laughter of the crowd. _Of course he would._ The Inquisitor’s tower was last; an overly large glowstone had been placed on the balcony but it was a lovely teal. People started clapping until they realized that Vivienne was slowly activating the surrounding glowstones; but the source of the colours was from Cullen’s tower. Slowly they filled in until the forms started appearing. A Maroon sword appeared first, followed by bright gold tendrils and lastly a white oval around the teal one. _The Inquisition’s symbol._

The symbolism was not lost on anyone. Cullen’s colours surrounded the Inquisitor’s, a bold statement from Dorian and Vivienne. But it was true, Cullen had proven time and time again that he would do anything to protect Scáthach and he was a formidable opponent. Anytime a recruit got snappy with Cullen other recruits would warn them and remind them of what Cullen did to Ser. A small applause started but Dorian interjected. No one noticed that he and Vivienne had made their way to Scáthach and Cullen.

“Honestly, what is with you people,” he said tersely, “ My lovely, Inquisitor and handsome Commander,” he smiled when Cullen scowled at him, “We all know this is a time of love,”

“And of family,” Vivenne now stood opposite of Dorian and cooly continued, “Would you both do us the honour of lighting this glowstone?”

Everyone began muttering until one, rather sauced woman shouted, “But they ain’t mages!” which caused chuckles.

“Oh? Well, would you look at that dear Vivienne” everyone was pointing above Scáthach and Cullen, who now noticed and looked up to see a conjured image of mistletoe and Cullen went red.

“I do see, Dorian, and  it seems the only way to light this is for the dear _Commander and his wife_ , to kiss under the mistletoe!” Everyone cheered and Bull and The Chargers hollered.

“Paybacks, Dorian,” Cullen shot a look at the smirking Tevinter.

“It was _so_ worth it,” he laughed.

 

The crowd grew anxious and Cullen looked to Scáthach who was smiling at him, and Cullen obliged, planting a chaste kiss on his wife’s lips. He parted to see the glowstone start to glow brightly but then it faded and Cullen’s brow furrowed as Scáthach tilted her head and whispered, “is it supposed to do that?”

“It seems, the glowstone requires more than _that_. Was that even a kiss, come on, man!” Dorian egged the crowd on.

“Kiss her like you mean it, Boss-man!” Bull shouted.

“Yea! Show us what ya got!” Sera added.

With each passing comment Cullen was simultaneously blushing more and getting agitated with all the attention on him.

Vivienne leaned in, “Just give her a nice passionate kiss like that one on the battlements and then it’s over”.

 

Cullen sighed, “You two are in _so much_ trouble,” but he yanked Scáthach to him and that caused the crowd to woop and cheer very loudly.

Scáthach touched his face gently and whispered, “Just focus on me, kiss me like I’ve been gone for some time. Pretend it’s just us,” She placed her hands in his pauldrons and Cullen did his best to please.

Cullen placed one hand behind her hand and his other in the small of her back as he kissed her. Scáthach moved her hands to be in his hair and she yanked on it to get Cullen to react and, Maker, did he. One moment Cullen was the reserved Commander everyone knew and now he was the husband with talents people only heard rumors of; Instinctly he deepened the kiss and flushed his body more with Scáthach’s and ended it with biting her lower lip and releasing it slowly.

“Holy shit, that was hot” Varric muttered. The crowd was in an uproar now, laughing and cheering. Vivienne and Dorian, now satisfied with the show, lit the glowstone they held once it was bright enough it opened and the remaining glowstones lit up with a bright light. Everyone was so distracted with the show that no one noticed that Cullen snuck in another kiss.

  

Or the one person in the crowd not smiling.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, maker, please PLEASE forgive me for taking so long. I'm in a fast-paced program at Uni and time's just flying by me. As some may know I got really sick earlier this year and I just lost a lot of drive to do much of anything for awhile because I was so exhausted. However, I'm doing much better now. With that being said let me reiterate that I am really working a lot in regards to Uni and I will update when I can. I will try to keep posting more frequently. But to give an insight of my life right now: I had a 12 hour clinical yesterday and another tomorrow, I just finished an assignment that's taken me nearly 8 hours to complete and I have an exam this week as well as next week. Thank you all for understanding and I hope you enjoy! I do very much still promise to finish the series (7 more left)! Please feel free to comment as usual!


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